Rays inch closer to A's; White Sox fall two behind Tigers

Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Evan Longoria blasted the go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays edged the Chicago White Sox, 3-2, in the opener of a four-game series at US Cellular Field.

Brett Myers (3-4) got Ben Zobrist to ground out for the first out of the inning, but served up a spinning breaking ball to Longoria, who smashed it over the left-center field wall for his 14th long ball of the season.

Joel Peralta (2-6) earned the win with a scoreless eighth inning and Fernando Rodney worked around a two-out base hit by Kevin Youkilis to record his 46th save of the season.

Luke Scott went 2-for-3 with a solo home run for the Rays, who are two games behind the Oakland Athletics for the second and final wild card spot in the American League.